Well, well, well… it’s that time of year again. The evening air is getting brisk and the aisles in the back of target are filled with bags of candy worth thirty dollars. The markup is dumb, but I digress. It’s all about how many pounds of sugar each kid can fit in their pillow case while dressed up as what haunts them in the dark. What a time!
As you may have guessed it, this week is a little unconventional. Normally I review local restaurants in Tuscaloosa and let the people know where to eat. This week I am getting into the Halloween spirit.
Right here next to me I have an assortment of candies that kids would, or would not, like to find in their bags at the end of their trip around the neighborhood. There is a good number of candies that I have with me. That being said, trick or treat.
The first candy that I blindly picked out of my bag was a Snickers bar. Fun size of course. A Snickers bar is never my first pick when I choose a chocolate bar. I just remembered, though, why I liked them so much as a kid. It’s a solid candy bar. Lots of nutty flavor between the peanuts and the nougat. For my likeness there is not enough chocolate. I am a chocoholic. I have to give Snickers bars a B- just because it could be a little bit more chocolatey.
I reached down next and pulled out one of my favorite candy bars to this day. I would save these and ration them out after Halloween. I am talking about none other than the Twix bar. It tastes incredible. The caramel is so smooth and mixes well with the chocolate. The only downside is the cookie- it has gluten. This is a gluten-free blog and that brings the rating down just a little bit. Twix bars are so good that it still gets and A- rating. Great candy bar.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the next bar. I opened up a Midnight Milky Way bar, and an explosion of flavor flooded my taste buds. Wow! A Midnight Milky Way is the same thing as a Milky Way. It just uses dark chocolate instead, which is better than milk chocolate. The caramel, nougat and chocolate ratio could not be better if they tried. This bar gets an A from me without question.
This next chocolate bar is the one that every kid groans at when they see it. During candy trades, this is the equivalent of a penny in US dollars. 3 Musketeers bars are next to worthless. They do nothing for me. There is a reason that I would sometimes throw these away when I got them as a kid. All that is in it is nougat covered by chocolate. It is still sweet, obviously, but this bar receives a D from me. Pitiful.
We have now come to the king of candy. If there was a kingdom where candy lived in harmony, their gracious and noble king would be a Reese’s cup. No words can describe the perfection in this mixture. Peanut butter and chocolate. No one does it better than Reese’s. A+ rating and I will take that to my grave.
Next up is moving past chocolate and towards straight up sugary treats. I pulled a Jolly Rancher lollipop out of my candy bag and I had never had one before. This particular sucker was green apple flavored. It was good. I like the Jolly Rancher green apple flavoring. My only issue is that the texture for the lollipop was different than the Jolly Ranchers we all know and love. This gets a C+ from me. It tasted good but did not last as long as I would like.
I was fortunate enough to end my night of candy reviews with a personal staple. I am a big fan of traditional Jolly Ranchers. I picked the blue raspberry flavor because it is my favorite. This is the perfect hard candy. Fantastic flavor that lasts until it is gone is tough to find. I have nothing negative to say, so this hard candy classic gets an A.
As I wrap up my dinner made up of sugar and high fructose corn syrup, I have to give an award for best candy. This award has no honorable mentions, as no candy comes even close to touching it. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups walk away with the award unanimously. Stay safe out there and check your candy bars for razor blades.
